Tony Elumelu Foundation announces Entrepreneurs Selected for its 2022 Entrepreneurship Programme

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), has announced the 2022 beneficiaries of its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme at the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation selection announcement, which was held for first time ever, outside of Nigeria, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The 2022 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs were selected from a pool of hundreds of thousands of applications from all 54 African countries who undertook a world-class business management training, received expert mentoring, and participated in a business pitching competition, where they demonstrated their business growth potential and innovation, all designed to provide lasting solutions to Africa’s unique problems.

According to a statement by the TEF on Monday, the opportunity has availed the selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs a life-long access to www.TEFConnect.com, the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s digital platform where they have life-long access to the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s alumni and mentor networks, market linkages, and the opportunity to network with the over 1.5 million African entrepreneurs from across the continent that are subscribed to the platform.

Speaking on the selections, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CFR., Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, said; “I am very happy to be here today. [The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)] is a second home for me; the United Bank for Africa (UBA); and the Tony Elumelu Foundation. We have a very strong relationship with [DRC], UBA operates here but more importantly the Tony Elumelu Foundation is firmly rooted in this great country.

In 2019 [the DRC] amiable president, H.E. President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, was personally physically in attendance for the 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum, and not only did he attend but his government also sponsored entrepreneurs who were selected from [DRC] under his leadership. His love for the youth and entrepreneurship continued in every conversation we had, and his stance was always “what more can we do for our youth?”. This year his government, through the Minister of Finance, H.E. Nicolas Kazadi, has partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation to increase the participation of beneficiaries in [DRC].

They are supporting more entrepreneurs with the sum of USD$600,000.00. This is significant and to us at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we believe that the future of our continent lies in the hand of our young ones. We support and commend the government for recognising the significant role that our young ones are playing, should play, and have to play, in the development of our continent. So, in appreciation of this we decided to make the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation selection announcement in your great country.”

On his part, S.E. Sama, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), speaking on the fruitful partnership, said; “It is wonderful to see the end result of the exchange between the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, to set up this great initiative to support entrepreneurship. I would like to thank our partner Tony Elumelu and his Foundation for this first action put together to support the blossoming of SMEs to play a main role in African economies, especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).”

See the list of the selected 2022 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs here. 

The Tony Elumelu Foundation continues to foster youth entrepreneurship for Africa’s sustainable development through strategic partnerships with governments, development organisations and private bodies across the globe, to create economic opportunities of jobs creation, poverty alleviation and women inclusion across the continent.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has also announced it will start receiving applications for its entrepreneurship programme on the 1st of January, 2023 on January 1, 2023, via www.tefconnect.com.